An officer with the federal police forces also deployed in west Mosul confirmed that the neighbourhood, which lies just

The Joint Operations Command coordinating the fight against the militants nationwide said the Nasr neighbourhood was also retaken on Thursday.

Iraqi forces launched a huge operation, their largest in years, to retake second city Mosul, in mid October last year.

They retook the side of the city that lies east of the Tigris river in January and launched a push on remaining IS fighters in western Mosul, which is more densely populated and has seen fierce fighting.

On the west bank, Iraqi forces control southern neighbourhoods and are slowly surrounding the Old City, whose narrow streets are expected to make federal operations very difficult.

An estimated 400,000 civilians are believed to still be there, unwilling or unable to leave because any escape would be too dangerous or because the terrorists are using them as human shields.